


Better Than Before

by Nyxierose



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-21
Updated: 2014-05-21
Packaged: 2018-01-26 00:18:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1667798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyxierose/pseuds/Nyxierose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The shamelessly fluffy high-school AU because why not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better Than Before

She first sees him on her first day at what will supposedly be the last school she ever attends, ten minutes late to third-period history because Felix got lost  _again_  and she had to go rescue him (and really he should know better, this isn’t even the biggest school they’ve been at, but apparently not). So… ten minutes late, which is apparently enough to get a very disapproving look from the teacher and some unwanted attention from everyone else in the room. Hey, at least she showed up at all.

"It’s my first day at this school," Sarah shrugs, as if that explains anything at all. She is sixteen years old but looks older, skinny jeans and too much eyeliner, and she knows what she’ll get labeled the very minute people take her in. Disaster on legs, and that’s if she’s lucky - but hell, ‘least they’ll be right about her.

There is one seat remaining in the classroom, dead in the middle, and she takes it without any further formalities. First days all go the same way - she’s lucky they moved over the summer this time, makes things easier - and she tunes out because there is a 95% chance that nothing relevant to her interests is going to happen in the next forty minutes.

Well, correction - she tunes out until there is a very slight but sudden change in the air pressure on her thigh. Glancing down, she sees a folded slip of paper and quickly opens it. In very neat handwriting, it reads  _you leave quite an impression_. Then it’s back up again, eyes darting around the room for anyone who might still be staring at her until she fixates on the boy next to her, whose lips are curved into an amused smile. He’s probably a foot taller than her, clad in an oversized sweater, and… dammit, he’s kinda cute. Not her usual type, too young and too  _normal_ , but cute despite those details. (She could do so much worse.)

_Fuck you_ , she scrawls on the other side of the perfectly torn notebook paper, and haphazardly returns it. Boys like that, in her experience, don’t look twice at girls like her and it was probably a half-assed insult instead of a compliment…

_I meant that in a nice way_. Well, at least this one’s got some nerve, passing notes back and forth is something one has to be at least a  _little_  rebellious to do and it’s a start.

_You’re out of your mind. Or desperate. Or both?_

_Gonna say neither._

_You suck at flirting, if that’s what you’re going for. You could just say you want to fuck me and be done with it._

_NOT what I’m going for._

_But you think I’m pretty?_

_Yeah. But you’re also jaded._

_Find me after school gets out and I’ll try to explain._

She doesn’t expect he will, this sweet boy with no apparent darker motivations for playing nice with her, but a couple of hours later she’s standing outside the front entrance and he appears in her field of vision, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, still smiling. “Hey.” His voice is… comforting, somehow.

"You’re weird," she says in lieu of greeting. "Weird, but also the only person today who hasn’t looked at me like I’m some sort of freak."

"That bad?"

"Either you spend too much time in your own little world or your understanding of people our age sucks."

"Gonna take the latter option." He takes a step forward, closer to her. "Is it cool if I hold your hand?"

"Oh my god. You  _like_  me. That’s what this is, some stupid puppy-crush and…”

"Could you please calm down?"

She laughs. “This  _is_  calm, idiot.”

If it’s even possible, his smile widens. “Um… I’m not sure I caught your name earlier.”

"That’s because I didn’t give it," she shrugs. "Sarah. And you are?"

"Cal. It’s nice to meet you."

"Yeah, uh…" She glances around, spots the walking disaster that is her brother, and suddenly her mind is in a different place. "See you around?"

"See you."

It’s a slow progression, whatever they blossom into. Passing notes in third-period history becomes a routine, and after school they talk for a few minutes before she has to wander off and play rescuer. And after a couple of weeks, when he asks her if she’d like to hang out properly sometime, it seems real. (It isn’t a question, not for her.)

He lives in a slightly nicer neighborhood than she does, but she keeps that detail to herself as she takes the place in. “You haven’t told me about your family,” she says, because precautionary measures are good and if this afternoon  _does_  go where she thinks it will, best to know who might get in the way.

"Parents, little sister… she’s thirteen, at dance class right now. And you’ve got… no one, from what I’ve seen?"

"Adoptive mom and brother," Sarah counters. "You’ve seen the sophomore boy who wears too many sequins that I keep chasing after?"

"You’re related to that?"

"Not by blood, but yeah."

"Cool."

The great thing about Cal, she decides, is that he doesn’t  _need_  to talk all the time. He is perfectly comfortable simply  _being_ , sitting on the couch in his parents’ living room and watching questionable TV and messing with her hair (she gave him permission a week ago). Silence doesn’t feel hostile, it feels natural, and she could absolutely get used to it.

"So are we dating now?" he asks after a while, like it’s a completely innocent question.

"I dunno. If you want to? I mean, usually I don’t assume that until I’ve kissed someone…"

"Do you want to kiss me?"

She turns to face him, hesitates for a second before pressing her lips to his. He’s  _nice_ , she realizes in that moment, lets her do what she will and doesn’t push things further. Strange how acceptance of personal space has become one of the things she looks for in a boyfriend…

"Yeah," she says when they break for air. "I wanted that."

"Good, because… I’m not gonna push you further than you want to go. You don’t need to be scared of me."

"I’m not scared."

Might as well just admit she’s in love, because those two things are one and the same… but no, Sarah Manning is not that sort of girl. Not yet.


End file.
